Taika Waititi's Star Wars Film Paused After Six Years

Taika Waititi's Star Wars film has been put on ice after six years of development. The director confirmed the project's halt, stating he is now working on a different venture with writer Tony McNamara.

Jon Watts has been tasked with directing the next Star Wars film instead. Waititi's unnamed movie, separate from the main saga storyline, has come to a complete stop as the filmmaker juggles approximately four other movie projects.

Waititi's creative direction and timeline

Waititi's vision for the film aimed to recapture the fun and joy of the original Star Wars trilogy. He described his take as a light-hearted, self-contained story, emphasizing a desire to bring back the charm of the classic films. In 2023, he reiterated his goal of returning to that original sense of fun.

Industry context and competing projects

The pause reflects Lucasfilm's established pattern of developing Star Wars projects that never reach production. While Waititi's film stalled, he directed Thor: Love And Thunder in 2022 and Next Goal Wins in 2023. He is now focusing on other projects, including the cinematic adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun.

Other high-profile directors have seen their proposed Star Wars films fail to materialize. Projects linked to Patty Jenkins, Kevin Feige, and the duo of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have all stalled. Rian Johnson's proposed trilogy has also receded, while Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's film about Rey's new Jedi order remains unofficially cancelled.

Lucasfilm has announced numerous projects via press releases and high-profile events that never made it to theaters. The studio's leadership has also changed, with Kathleen Kennedy stepping down as president in early 2026. Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan now lead the company.

Amid these delays, one film has moved forward. Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, is scheduled for next year to coincide with the franchise's 50th anniversary.

The broader Star Wars film output has been sparse. The last main saga film was 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. The only film released since is 2026's The Mandalorian and Grogu, a spin-off from the successful television series.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is noted as the lowest-grossing Star Wars film of the Disney era. This created a seven-year gap between major theatrical releases. The project was originally announced during Disney's Investor Day in 2020, introduced by then-Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy as one of a dozen Lucasverse items. Updates since then have been vague; Kennedy noted in 2023 that Waititi was still working but needed a third act for the script, which initially had writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns before Tony McNamara came on board.

Waititi remains philosophical about the project's future. He is currently focused on promoting his latest film, Klara and the Sun.